Computer Week
Feds should boost IT research, report says
BY Randall Edwards
Sept. 22, 2003
The federal government's support of information technology research is
"essential" and must be raised to meet the growing challenges researchers
face, according to a new report from the National Academies' Computer
Science and Telecommunications Board.
The report, released by the National Academies today, states that agencies
such as the National Science Foundation and the Defense Advanced
Researched Projects Agency must play larger roles in IT research and must
have the government's support to sustain a broad scope of research.
While touting the United States as the international leader in IT, the
report calls for an increase in federal funding. Agencies must "adjust
their strategies and tactics as national needs and imperatives change,"
the board states.
The focus of IT research must align with national needs, the report says.
Homeland security, an increase of commodity IT products and a growing
dependence of economic and social activity on networking and computer
capabilities are shaping the approach to federally funded computer
research, according to the report.
Government support for IT research should complement industrial research,
the board said. Federal sponsorship of university-based research programs
must also continue in order to develop an IT talent base to support future
growth in both government and industrial research.
Other federal agencies that provide funding for IT research include NASA,
the Energy Department, the National Institutes of Health, and parts of the
Defense Department in addition to DARPA.
*******************************